Sumire
by Kyoka Suigetsu Totsuka
Summary: With enough effort, even the rarest flower can be found. Naruto found the one violet flower that would change his life for the better, and he would love it for the rest of his life. -Naruto x Ino- - Weather Manipulation Naruto!- M for future lemons.


**I Don't Own Naruto!**

**Sumire - Chapter 1**

* * *

In recent years, the village of Konoha had regained its peace and strength. Ever since the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune five years ago, the Shinobi of Konoha had been working to exhaustion in order to bring their home back to the top of the world, and they were close to the end. With the leadership of the Sandaime Hokage, Konoha once again regained its political and military power in the Elemental Nations, and its people could finally live in peace.

Just a few years ago, children would be subjected to see scenes of carnage and horror of the Third Shinobi World War, but now children could enjoy their innocent childhood inside the solitude of their home. Some elders in the village might think of this peace as temporary and will create incentive for complacence in the village, but to many parents, it was the best thing that ever happened to them.

To parents, there is no greater joy in life than seeing their children happy. After knowing the horrors of war, many adults of the village could only thank Kami-sama above for allow peace and tranquility to once again be their children's childhood…

"Ino-chan, don't run off too far!" cried a woman in her early thirties; her lengthy brown hair hovered in the wind as she ran after her five year old daughter. "We have to go home for lunch in a little while!"

The little girl ahead of her mother had a huge smile on her face as she ran into the park. It was a beautiful day and the park was filled with many children and parents. The girl saw some of her friends playing in the sandbox and she quickly ran over to them; hoping to get at least half an hour of playtime with them before her mother called her back to go home.

"Sakura-chan!" The little girl's short blonde hair was a little messy after running through the wind as she stepped into the sandbox. She saw her best friend sitting on the edge of the box with a bucket next to her, clearly trying to make some sort of castle.

The pink haired girl smiled happily at the sight of her best friend and sat up taller, "Hi Ino-chan!" Sakura scooted closer to Ino and smiled again. "Let's try to build something!"

Ino giggled and nodded. "Okay!"

From far, Ino's mother, Akemi, smiled at the sight of her little girl playing. She could never get enough of seeing her daughter smile so happily; it really made her heart flutter with joy. Ino was her little angel; she was a perfect blend of herself and the man she loved, and probably the most important person of her life. The years between Ino being born and her almost joining the academy went by like a few days, and Akemi was already starting to worry for Ino.

As the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan, Ino would be expected to become a Kunoichi and form a team with the Nara and Akimichi children, but as a mother, Akemi was still worried. As a retired Chunin, she knew exactly how dangerous being a Kunoichi would be, and it would be even more so as an heiress of a dominant clan. Akemi just hoped that everything would work out fine for her little angel.

"Good morning Akemi!" said a very familiar voice from the side.

Akemi looked over and smiled at the sight of her childhood friend and very closer family friend, Nara Yoshino. "Good morning, Yoshino; you're here with Shikamaru-chan?"

Yoshino smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he stays at home too much so I forced him out here to get some sun."

The Yamanaka matriarch smiled and shook her head. "He really is Shikaku's son."

Yoshino smiled and nodded before she, along with Akemi, sat down on a park bench. It was a warm day, but the soft breeze made it just right; the village was as beautiful as it could be and it was truly a sight to behold.

"It's been a few years, but I think we've finally bounced back." Yoshino smiled as she looked over at her friend. "Back then I was afraid we'd go into war again, but everything turned out fine." Losing the Yondaime Hokage was a major blow to the Konoha Military, but it seemed that the other villages were tired also and didn't attack them.

"Yes, I'm very hopeful that our children will grow up without war…"

Akemi looked back over at her daughter, who had forcefully dragged Shikamaru over to the sandbox and made him help her and Sakura on their castle. She smiled as Ino started to point and order Shikamaru to do things; it reminded Akemi of herself when she was a child.

"Hey Yoshino, do you and Shikamaru-chan want to come over for lunch later?" Akemi asked with a happy grin. "Inoichi is making his special dish for us." Yoshino reminded oddly silent and it made Akemi look over at her, "Yoshino?"

"It's him…" softly said the Nara matriarch as her eyes discreet look over to the other side of the park.

Akemi followed her friend's gaze and found herself frowning at the sight. It was a small blond boy, about the same age as Ino. Unlike the other children in the park, he was alone and was slowing walking away from the swings; it seemed that he was just passing by. Akemi had seen the boy many times before—be it at the park or the market, but never once had she gone up and talked to him.

"Where is he going?" muttered Akemi with a soft sigh.

Yoshino shrugged and sighed. "I don't know…I've never actually followed him; it would be too obvious."

Five years ago, the day after the Kyuubi attack, the Sandaime Hokage had ordered a decree—no clans or major families in Konoha would be allowed to deliberately interact with Uzumaki Naruto. It was immediately clear to the major clan head as to who Uzumaki Naruto was; after all, he shared the same last name as their longtime friend and looked like a mini-clone of their respected leader.

Inoichi, along with Shikaku and Choza, was deeply against the law. The Sandaime, with his decree, had robbed the boy of his chance of having a family. If allowed, the Yamanaka would gladly adopt the boy into their family, especially since he was the son of their deceased friends. At one point, Inoichi had tried to organize proposal to the Hokage about him adopting Naruto as his son, but it was denied almost instantly. The Sandaime was very adamant with his decision to keep Naruto as an orphan, and it was not going to change.

The only one who really connected the Hokage's reasons was Nara Shikaku, the Jounin Commander who was too intelligent for his own good. Protecting Naruto from his father's enemies was only a small part of denying him of a family; the main reason was the Hokage didn't want any particular clan to have control over the Jinchuriki. The balance of power between clans had always been very delicate, and the elderly Hokage didn't want to tilt the scale at all.

"I want Ino-chan to play with him sometimes, but I can't tell to her without breaking the Sandaime's law."

Akemi frowned deeper as she looked at the retreating back of the small boy, who had spiky blond hair just like his father. He looked so sad and lonely it broke her heart…and she really wanted to do something to make him feel loved.

Yoshino nodded at her friend's words; she had also wanted Shikamaru to play with the boy, but her son rarely spoke to any children other than Ino and Choji. A drop of water suddenly knocked the Nara out of her thoughts and she looked around to see that it was drizzling.

"Rain?" Yoshino asked herself as she looked around at the slowly damping ground.

"Wow, there was not a cloud in sight a few minutes ago…"

"SHIKAMARU, GET OVER HERE; WE'RE LEAVING!" cried Yoshino, and Akemi giggled as Shikamaru scrambled to his feet and ran over to his mother as fast as possible; even she had to agree, Yoshino could give Tsunade a run for her money with being scary.

"Ino-chan, we have to go as well; you'll catch a cold in this weather." Ino waved goodbye to Sakura, who was leaving with her mother, and walked back to her own mother. Akemi smiled and brushed her hand against her little girl's cheeks before turning to Yoshino. "You guys should come over for lunch, our house is closer anyway; it's a pain to walk in this rain."

Yoshino, feeling that the rain was getting stronger, nodded gratefully. "Sure, we would love that."

Akemi smiled and led the way. "Come on then, Inoichi should be done by now."

Ino smiled at the thought of having her daddy's wonderful food again, and happily walking along her mother with a slight skip in her steps. But in the back of her mind, she swore that she saw a boy holding onto a violet flower going to opposite direction as them…it was pretty far from where she was so she could tell what the flower was, but it was her color.

_'I wonder who that was.' _

* * *

The rain cloud above Konoha wasn't too large; in fact, it only effected about a quarter of the village. The rain was quite heavy, but it would only drop on a small part of the village at once, and it seemed to move rather quickly for a rain cloud. It was rather annoying for the merchants and peddlers in the village because they were forced to close up for the day, but some saw it was a nice rainy day for some sake.

But one person, one small a young person, just felt the usual emptiness and loneliness he would feel. He could feel the rain completely soak his hair and clothes, and it made him quite cold. His blue eyes were glued to the pretty flower he picked at the edge of the village, but the tears in his eyes were smudging the view.

_'Why am I always alone?' _The boy thought to himself as he slowly walked to the southern edge of the village, quite far from his small apartment located at the eastern end of the village.

The boy was having a good day, well, a good day for his standards. He found a pretty flower that looked healthy and strong, and he had a nice bowl of steaming ramen at Ichiraku, but in the end, his day was ruined. He had mostly ignored the strange and fearful looks the villages usually give him, but it was a sunny day and he saw many families out together.

Since a few years ago, the boy had asked the Hokage, who would occasionally come by to talk with him, where his parents were, and he would always get the same recited answer. It wasn't fair. Naruto wanted more than anything to have a mom who would take care of him when he was sick, kiss his knee when he scraps it while playing, and make up nice bentos for lunch. He would see children being coddled by their parents all the time, and it was just adding insult to injury.

He had tried playing with other children before, and they had allowed him to play along. But whenever he thought he had made a friend, the next day they would ignore him. One time, when he decided to press, they had told him that their mother had told them to stay away from him. That was a year ago, and since then Naruto had refrained from meeting new friends; he didn't ever want to hear that someone wanted their children to stay away from him again.

_'I guess I'll go to the garden…it always makes me feel better.' _

* * *

"I can't believe you already lost your Kunai Set, you just got those two days ago!" cried an annoyed Ino who was trudging through mud with her two childhood friends. Apparently, her friend Choji had been training and lost his Kunai somewhere in the southern forest of the village. The rain just stopped a day ago and the ground was still soaked.

Shikamaru sighed as Choji looked ashamed. "I was training with them yesterday, but it suddenly started to rain and I left them here…" The chubby boy was poking his fingers together as he looked at the ground. "Kaa-chan got me those for getting into the academy…she'll be sad if I lose them so quickly."

Shikamaru sighed again. "Mendokusai…you said you were training here yesterday right?" Choji nodded and kept looking around. "Then they must be around here somewhere."

"Maybe we should split up and look for them; it might be faster that way." Ino suggested as she placed her hands on her hips. "I have to go home in a few hours and I want to at least play at the park a little before then."

Shikamaru sighed and nodded. "Ino's right, it would be faster that way."

Ino nodded and crossed her arms. "Okay, I will go straight, Shikamaru with go left, and Choji will go right…we'll all meet back here in an hour even if we don't find anything."

Choji nodded. "Okay…"

"You're so bossy Ino…" muttered Shikamaru as he stalked off to the left side of the forest.

"Shut up you lazy sack of potatoes!"

Ino huffed and walked off deeper into the forest. Unlike yesterday, the sky was clear and not a cloud was in sight, so the forest was quite bright despite the large canopies. The girl was quite brave for her age, she wasn't scared that she was alone in the forest, but she did want to go and play after, so she was walking quite fast in order to find the Kunai.

She had wanted to play with Sakura a lot longer yesterday, but the stupid rain decided to show up. Their castle was almost done and the water destroyed everything. The only good thing was that Shikamaru got to come over to play and her daddy made his famous lunch, which was very good, Ino had three servings,.

"This is so hard…" The dark color of the Kunai was hard to see in the wet mud and leaves.

The girl wondered if some of the dirt had swallowed up the Kunai after the rainstorm yesterday, but she really didn't want to touch the mud any more than she already was. She would just stalk around for another hour, if she found it then good, but if she didn't then she would gladly go to the park and play with Sakura, who was probably already there by now.

As Ino was walking deeper and deeper into the forest, something completely out of place caught her eyes. It was a violet flower, and it looked very pretty. Ino walked over to it and gently knelt down onto a relatively clean and dry spot.

"Wow…what is a wild mallow doing here?" As the Yamanaka heiress, Ino knew quite a bit about botany despite her young age. Her daddy had her memorizing the different species and genus of plant since she was three years old, and now she could name all the plants in her home. She recognized the violet wild mallow almost instantly since he was her favorite flower, and was the one her daddy symbolized her after.

Ino smiled as she gave the flower a light sniff; it was just as delightful as the ones in her backyard. Despite her amazement, Ino knew that such a flower wouldn't be found in the wild in such a strange place, her father had told her that himself. Someone must have planted it here, but she could think of a reason why.

The girl looked around and was even more surprised to see more flowers lying around, some that people wouldn't find in the forest. Intrigued, Ino got up and walked deeper into the forest, hoping to find more of these unusual flowers, but she saw something that was way beyond her expectations…

As she trekked through something thick bushes and towering trees, Ino came across a sight that she would never forget.

"W-Wow!"

It was a large clearing, about three times the size of the Yamanaka backyard. But unlike normal clearings in forests, this one was filled with flowers. The whole thing was like one giant flowerbed, and it had all kinds of different types. Just from where she was standing she could see more wild mallows, and next to them were gardens of roses, lavender, tulips, and daffodils.

Then there was the aroma…it was the most delightful thing she had ever experienced. The different shades of colors were brilliantly organized and the shade from the tall trees made the mood all the more serene. There was a small stream that ran right through the clearing, which probably brought a lot of the nutrients to the flowers.

"Who in the world did this?"

Ino slowly walked into the clearing, using the small path left between flower gardens and careful not to step on any of the flowers. Looking down she saw that all the flowers looked very healthy and well cared for, and they were still wet, either from the rain or from someone watering them. Even the soil around the gardens looked dark and moist, perfect for tending to.

"Um…who are you?" said a sudden, but timid voice from behind Ino.

The girl jumped a little from the sudden voice and turned back to see a boy about her age looking at her. She immediately noticed that she had blond hair like her, but his was more of a golden yellow compared to her platinum blond. He was dressed in a simple pair of black khaki shorts and a white t-shirt, and for some reason he looked a little scared; his blue eyes was darting away from her as she made eye contact.

"Oh hello…"

The blond boy bit his lips a little before looking at her. "What are you doing here?"

Ino was a little confused with his tone and just tilted her head. "I was just passing by looking for a Kunai set when I found this place…" The girl smiled again as she looked around the beautiful scenery. "Who made this place anyway, it's beautiful!"

The boy blushed a little and stuck his hands into his pockets. "I did…it took me two years but I made it."

Ino was surprised and a little dubious. "You made this?!" exclaimed the girl a little too loudly for the boy's comfort. "That's kind of hard to believe seeing that you are my age."

"No…I really did make this." The boy looked down a little with a smile on his face. "I would pick flowers from all over the village and bring them here to grow…I organized an individual garden for each type I find, and they have all grown in time."

"B-But…how much time do you spend on this?" asked Ino a little baffled, still finding it hard to believe that a kid no older than her did such a great job with flowers.

"I spend almost every hour of every day doing this…"

Ino looked around again and once again saw the vastness of the gardens. "But how…did you use tools or what?"

The boy nodded and pointed to the other end of the flowerbed. "Yeah, there is small shed over there where I keep my tools."

The girl looked back and indeed saw a small shed, and she looked back at the boy with an amazed expression. "Wow!" Ino smiled and ran over to the boy, who backed a little at the sudden closeness. "You must be like a genius or something to do this; my family owns a flower shop in the village and our backyard doesn't look as good as this!" Ino was actually a little taller than the boy and she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Can you please teach me how to do this?!" The boy looked surprised as the girl continued. "My Kaa-chan said I am still too young to be working in the gardens and doesn't let me do anything with flowers accept reading about them."

"Um…sure I can teach you, but I don't really know much about them…I just do what I think is right and water them."

"Well it's definitely right since you made this!"

The boy smiled, not really used to the praise. "W-Would you like to see the whole thing?"

Ino's eyes sparkled and nodded. "Yes please!"

The blond boy gestured for Ino to follow him, and he led her over to the right side of the garden. There was particularly large tree with wide spreading branches. The lowest branch was actually one low enough for the children's small bodies to climb onto. Naruto went first and climbed up the first branch with Ino following close behind. The branches were not too far apart so it was pretty easy to climb higher and higher.

"Hey, can you help me with this one?" Ino was mainly having a hard time because of the pink dress she was wearing, which reached down to her ankles and it made climbing a little challenging.

The boy looked back at the girl from the top branch and nodded. "Okay…" He reached his hand down as he sat down on the branch.

"Thanks!" Ino grabbed onto the boy's hands, which were oddly warm considering the wet climate in the forest, and used it as leverage to pull herself up. The boy started to help and pulled her higher by her hand, and after another minute she was up at the top.

The boy smiled and turned around to face the other side. "This is the best view ever…"

Ino stood on the wide branch and looked down, and she had to agree with the boy. From this height, she could see the flower gardens as shades of color. The soft wind would cause all the petals to move at once in a wavy motion, and it was gorgeous.

"Wow…" muttered the girl as she sat down next to her newest friend. "You are amazing for making this by yourself."

The boy blushed a little again and scratched his cheek. "Thank you…um?"

Ino got the hind and smiled. "Oh sorry, I'm Yamanaka Ino, nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, Ino-san; my name is Uzumaki Naruto."

Ino giggled as she hugged her knees to her chest. "You have a cute name…fishcake."

Naruto looked a little embarrassed and shook his head. "I think it is supposed to mean maelstrom." Naruto wanted to point out that Ino's name could mean pig, but decided not to since he thought Ino looked too pretty to be called a pig.

Ino smiled at his shyness, it was kind of endearing and cute. "So why haven't I ever seen you anywhere before? Aren't you in the academy?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I don't really want to be a Ninja; I just want to stay here and continue with growing flowers."

"Really, I thought everyone wants to become a Ninja." Ino shrugged and accepted his answer; after all, growing flowers all day could be just as fun as learning cool jutsu. "If you don't want to be a Ninja than maybe you can come work for my daddy later on; he loves flowers and gardens a lot himself; he'll like you a lot!"

The boy grew a little nervous at the mention of her parents and just nodded…

"You should come to the park with us next time, Sakura-chan really like flowers too, but she doesn't know nearly as much about them as I do!" announced Ino proudly with her head held high. "I have to other good friends, but they are really weird most of the time! One of the only wants to sleep for look at clouds and the other just wants to eat all the time!" Ino puffed her cheeks at the thought of her childhood friends. "They say I'm bossy and talk too much…do you think I talk too much?"

Naruto was just looking at Ino as she spoke; he had never met anyone who would talk as fast and much as Ino; it was quite refreshing. "No…you're pretty interesting."

Ino grinned and patted Naruto on the back. "See, you're a nice friend, unlike Bakamaru!"

The boy's eyes widened for a second as he looked at Ino. "You consider me a friend?"

Ino smiled and nodded happily. "Of course I do, you're the most amazing friend I have ever met!" The girl eyes looked down at the flower bed again only to smile brighter. "I never thought someone my age can do something like this; this has become my favorite place in Konoha already!"

Naruto smiled, genuinely happy and nodded. "Yeah, I live in the village but this feel more like home than my apartment."

"Do your parents know you come here every day?" asked Ino innocently.

The boy shook his head with a sad smile. "No…I am an orphan and I live alone."

Even though she was only five years old, Ino knew she had touched a sore spot in her new friend. "I'm sorry Naruto-chan, I shouldn't have asked."

Naruto just waved her off with a smile, a little amused with the way she called him. No one had ever used the suffix "chan" for him before, and it felt quite nice and endearing.

Wanting to go back to the happy mood, Ino turned to face Naruto fully. "Let's play a game!" The girl grabbed Naruto's hands and started to climb down the tree. Naruto decided to follow his new friend and quickly followed her down the tree. "This is the perfect place to play this game!"

Naruto smiled and nodded, he was excited about playing a game for the first time. "What game?"

Ino grinned. "It's called 'Hide n Seek'; it is very simple, one person closes their eyes and counts to twenty, and in that time the other person goes and hides. When the person who was counting finds the other person, the first round is over. Then we switch places, the one who was hiding has to count and try to look for the other, and whoever finds the other faster wins!"

The boy smiled as the game sounded very fun. "Okay!"

Ino grinned. "I'll hide first, count to twenty and come find me, Naruto-chan!"

* * *

Back in the Yamanaka home, Akemi was stalking around the living room nervously. Her daughter had gone out with Shikamaru and Choji over nine hours ago and hadn't come back. Originally, both the Nara and Akimichi were going to come over for a nice dinner, but only Shikamaru and Choji came back on time. They said that they were all in the forest looking for Choji's Kunai, but when the all decided to meet after an hour of looking, Ino didn't show up.

Shikamaru and Choji had spent a lot of time looking for Ino, but they couldn't find her, so they came back into the village and told their parents. Now Inoichi was going a little crazy and was about to task a team of ANBU to go looking for his little princess.

"Did you make sure to search the entire forest?" Choza asked as he sat next to his wife, Akimichi Momoko, who was also worried about her surrogate niece.

Inoichi sighed and nodded. "Yes, but I couldn't find her anywhere!"

Shikaku sighed as he looked at his son, who was beside Choji sitting on the other couch. "You said she went to the southern forest, right?" Shikamaru nodded. "Well the southern forest is rather empty, so if need be I'll order a team to go in a search for her."

Suddenly, the front door of the house opened…

"Daddy, I'm home!"

Everyone's eyes widened and rushed out.

'INO-CHAN!" cried Akemi as she pulled her little girl into a hug.

Inoichi let out a huge breath of relief and knelt down to hug his daughter. "Oh Ino-hime, where were you?" The Nara's and Akimichi's smiled at the sight as they stood behind their own children.

Ino look a little guilty as she pulled away from her parents. "I'm sorry for taking so long, but I was playing with my new friend."

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "You met a new friend and played for nine hours?"

Ino grinned and nodded. "Yep, he's much more fun to play with than you and Choji, Bakamaru!"

Shikamaru grunted at his nickname as Inoichi smiled. "Who is your new friend, hime?"

Ino kicked off her shoes and smiled brightly. "His name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Going unnoticed to the children, all six adults in the room eyes widened at the mention of that name. "He is a really cool boy my age and is really fun!" Akemi couldn't believe that after so many years one of their children actually found a friend in Naruto…without any pushing on their part whatsoever!

"Uzumaki Naruto, you say?" asked Shikaku with a smile.

"Yep!" Ino turned to her father with a grin. "Hey daddy, when are we eating; I'm starving!"

All the adults smiled down at the little girl, happy that she had found the son of their late friends and actually took a huge liking to him. Maybe with Ino's help one of them can finally adopt Naruto into their family and provide him with a proper home…

_'It looks like my daughter and your son are going to be friends, Minato…' _thought Inoichi with a smile on his face.

* * *

The End!

I hope you all liked this new story. NaruIno was what got me into reading fanfiction in the first place, so I'm happy I am finally doing one myself.

**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! XD**


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